Genesee Valley Chapter
Adirondack Mountain Club

Join Us at our Chapter Meetings!

EISENHART AUDITORIUM
ROCHESTER MUSEUM and SCIENCE CENTER
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY
Click here for a map and directions

Updated May 8, 2008 3:22 PM ET

Our monthly meetings are open to the public. Non-members are cordially invited to attend.

Our meetings are educational and entertaining. You will hear about future activities and have the opportunity to talk to active members (they are friendly) and ask questions about the club. The meetings are free to all. Come check us out.  

Meeting cancellations due to inclement weather will be announced here on our website (www.gvc-adk.org), on our information line (585-987-1717), on www.13wham.com, and on WHAM 1180 AM radio.

Next Meeting – May 14, 2008

7:30 Program – Steve Eisinger: Tibetan Trekking Adventure

Tibet! The very name conjures up mystery, remoteness, political intrigue, and most of all, the grandeur of the Himalayan landscape! Chapter member Steve Eisinger and his trekking companions will tell us all about their trip there last fall with Pack, Paddle, Ski. Here is a taste of what they experienced. You might detect a bit of enthusiasm here!

"We spent sixteen days in Tibet. We sat with chanting monks in remote monasteries. We mingled with pilgrims prostrating themselves on the ground before their temples. We faced occupying Chinese soldiers. We drove the highways (very good) and the by-ways (very bad) into the heart of the Tibetan landscape. And most extraordinarily of all, we marched for five days across the high barren foothills, camping by night near yak-herding nomads–and their yaks–right into the very shadow of the Mother Goddess of the Earth: Mount Everest!

What a trip! Most of us had traveled; Kili, Patagonia, the Amazon. But this was the consensus trip of a life-time. It was sensory overload. Buddhist art in the monasteries. Yak butter lamps glowing in the monastic chambers. Yak butter tea (think of it as chicken soup!) in a yak hair tent at Everest Base Camp. Vultures circling over a sky burial. Turquoise sacred lakes. The breath-stealing altitude. The great medieval fortress architecture of the forbidden city of Lhasa. The glory of the highest mountains in the world. And the genuine warmth in the faces of our guides and drivers, and dozens of ordinary Tibetans we met on our adventures. . Our hearts go out to our Tibetan friends who are now enduring violence and increased suppression."

Join us for the stories and pictures of Steve Eisinger, Kevin Hoehn, Chris McManus, Bob Kuehl, Karen Mesolella, Paul Neumann, Kathy Jukubowski and Irene Liberty.

6:30 Workshop – Jason Hammel: Bicycles

Spring is here! As the warmer weather arrives, it's time to get the bikes out. We welcome Jason Hammel of Eastern Mountain Sports to help insure each ride will be a safe and happy one this season. He will talk on proper bike fit, basic trail and road maintenance (tubes, tools and adjustments), and tips and techniques (cadence, heart rate, breathing and nutrition) relating to better performance.

Looking ahead to the June 11, 2008 chapter meeting

7:30 Program – Member's Night

Come join us for another exciting Member's Night Program. In keeping with tradition, June's program features two of our own Chapter members, Steve Tryon and Ken Harbison.

Family and other responsibilities have kept Steve Tryon from being a great traveler, but he does enjoy the local waterways, especially Irondequoit Creek, which he paddles year 'round. Paddling the creek is his version of the walk around the neighborhood. Says he, "The grand thing about paddling the same waterways is that they are always different." The camera usually goes along.

The second presentation, by Ken Harbison, will be on a self-arranged trip for four members to Kauai, and Maui, with a catamaran trip to Lanai. Hiking, snorkeling, canoing were the principal activities. Viewing the sunrise from Haleakala and hiking into the crater were two of the high points.

6:30 Workshop – Gear Swap

Do you have $ need gear? Have gear need $?
Do you have outdoor equipment you no longer use? Are you interested in looking for some bargains?
Come and join the fun in the annual GVC-ADK June Gear Swap.
Price your things and bring them in between 6:00 and 6:30 to set up.
Weather permitting, you can set up tents outside and display your boats.

Election of Chapter Officers

Looking back to the April 2008 chapter meeting

   

During the workship, Dave Hulburt of BayCreek Paddling Center walked us through how length, weight, style and materials affect each boats performance.

Then we accompanied long distance cyclists Brian and Karen Managan on their Pacific-to-Atlantic biking journey - all 3974 miles (!) - by video shot from their recumbent tandem, gear in tow. Strategically selected music enhanced the virtual experience - the pain of the 6500' climb up the Sierra Mountains; the desolation and agony pushing through the scorching deserts of Nevada; and the fatigue of the succession of grueling climbs up to the Continental Divide. But then, the thrill we got peering head-on over the handlebars at the pavement drops and curves on the wild 49+ mph descents! And the awe of the geological splendors of Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase, Escalante, and Capital Reef National Parks – images to be recalled when feeling the discouragement from the headwinds, sidewinds, and rains of Kansas. And at the end, as they dipped the bike into the Atlantic, we enjoyed the accomplishment of a feat artfully done.

Click here for Brian's and Karen's Trans-Am 2004 Weblog.

==> More highlights from previous chapter meetings

Interpreter for Hearing Impaired

An interpreter for the hearing impaired will be available upon request at this month's meeting. Please contact . The deadline to request is one week before the Chapter Meeting.

For more club information please call the information line at: (585) 987-1717.